Tuesday, December 9, 2008

I can remember another early visual experience with cannabis, in which I viewed a candle flame and discovered in the heart of the flame, standing with magnificent indifference, the black-hatted and -cloaked Spanish gentleman who appears on the label of the Sandeman sherry bottle. Looking at fires when high, by the way, especially through one of those prism kaleidoscopes which image their surroundings, is an extraordinarily moving and beautiful experience.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A long time ago I mentioned I might be doing a few personal postings of things that I find interesting. Well one of these things happens to be beer. Not just any beer but dank, rich, flavorful, creamy, sweet beer! Here is a list of some of my favorite beers:

GUINNESS

What can I say? It's my beer of choice when I'm undecided as to what I should pick up after a day at the office or an evening of debauchery on the weekend. Guinness packs a shade of black so dark it makes the luminescence of a cave seem bright. Don't be afraid of the color though as it hides it's taste behind the pitch black curtain. A taste of beer, not alcohol . that's right, Guinness is a beer first and an alcohol second in my book as its flavor does not give a hint of an alcoholic spike. Instead a drinker is treated to a bold and heavy mixture that drinks like a meal. Oh and the head! It's head is a beautiful pillow on the earthy darkness below it and comes across as a very appealing touch to the not-so-alluring color of the body. Even still on top of that you get a decently priced six pack. $7.99-8.99. Sure not an easy sell for the average person wanting to get drunk however if you want to grab a nice buzz and enjoy your beer well there's nothing like a Guinness to liven up your evening.

Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

Now here's a beer that prides itself in exotic and unique tastes. Dogfish Head has become my premier brand of choice as it's beer flavors have yet to disappoint me at least once. 60 Minute IPA is no exception. One of 3 IPAs (there's also 90 minute and the holy grail of IPAs 120 minute!), 60 Minute IPA comes with the fruity texture and bite that one comes to love from an IPA. What's so different then about 60 Minute IPA from other IPAs? Well, for starters it's continually hoped for 60 minutes. That's right. The beer mixture is dowsed in hops for a full hour giving it a really intense zing in both flavor and smell. While it's not going to help if you're having trouble making ends meet it's worth every penny at $10.99.

To the extent that religion does promote altruism, it might actually be effective because adherents think that some authority figure is watching them to make sure they “do the right thing,” or because they want to maintain their reputations as righteous followers of religious teachings. Also, studies that do show a link between altruism and religion are often based on self-reports — subjects saying they did something unselfish, rather than direct observation of them doing so. This type of data is notoriously unreliable.